The best part about flying is taking photos from the plane. The best views you can possibly get. For a while I am distracted from my fears by the sheer beauty of the pristine sky and the blanket of clouds. I guess this is possibly the reason people climb mountains. There is a certain divinity and spiritual feeling you get looking at such incredible beauty. For a moment I forget I’m in a plane and just feel a little closer to heaven. Nature always inspires a zen like feeling in me.

The thing about it being winter is that there will be certain activities that you might not be able to do because of weather conditions. But if you’re not big on hiking or adventure sports and the like it should be fine. 🙂

A friend just returned from a self-drive in the South Island. He said the roads were hazardous because they were icy. For some reason when I did a self-drive in Autumn, we were forever encountering road works. We never saw those in Summer. It’s true hotels and flights are cheaper in Winter, but then you have to endure lesser daylight hours and these sort of things.

thank you…..I kinda forgot about the icy roads. Kinda broke now so it’ll be quite a while before the next trip I think. NZ would be a dream! I think it’s expensive because it’s really popular with everyone.

Yeah if you don’t mind staying in a backpackers in NZ (they are pretty decent) you could get a bed in a dorm for $17 a night even! I don’t really see too much point staying in motels/hotels in NZ if you’re trying to save money, there are really nice backpackers!